Mansion
by sdd-writes-things
Summary: Adrien gets a note on his desk saying the sender has a lead on Hawkmoth's whereabouts. That same day, Marinette stumbles upon a familiar dragon and what she thinks is Hawkmoth's hideout. Several weeks, a few meetings, and one foolhardy attack lead to a discovery Adrien didn't want to make, and one he won't soon forget. (Ships in the Night's sequel)
1. Chapter 1

Adrien remembered the day his mom left. It was warm and sunny and though the wet breeze foretold of pain yet to come Adrien ignored it.

But he couldn't ignore the shouting coming from upstairs. He couldn't ignore his mother's outraged cries or his father's terrifying yells. Adrien had huddled against the stairwell, shaking. It seemed to go on forever.

Then a door slammed. Heavy footsteps and the soft whir of plastic wheels on tile grew louder in the hallway. And suddenly his mother was storming down the stairs, her suitcase clacking against each step.

She looked tired and worn and beautiful as always. She'd bid a tearful farewell to Adrien and he could remember sobbing, begging his mother not to go. He remembered chasing her out the door and watching her leave through the sudden rain and he let himself get soaked. He couldn't care.

She'd left on his birthday.

And oh, did he cry. Adrien was barely twelve and now his mother was gone and he couldn't handle it. He cried there on his front steps for hours. His father never called him in. Nobody said anything to him and the only life he saw after his mother screeched out of the driveway was a stray black cat dashing for cover from the downpour.

Not many good things happened to Adrien when it rained, and yet he loved it because who can see your tears when you're already wet?

And then his first day of public school arrived. It was a day exactly like his twelfth birthday and he tried not to think about how this day could end. And yet so many things went wrong despite how he'd tried to go about it. Marinette's first impression of him was negative and for the entire school day she wanted absolutely nothing to do with him.

But then it rained. And he had an umbrella he didn't need. And he wasn't looking for an apology when he extended his arm to Marinette, offering the umbrella she needed more than him. When she took it though and laughed with him when it shut on her head, he knew they were on good terms.

It was raining again as he thought about this. He was at home preparing for a photoshoot. The akuma had disappeared and though it was suspicious Marinette knew they couldn't wait to purify it to restore the city. She'd quickly used a Lucky Charm to return everything back to normal despite Tikki's condition and for now everything was as it should be.

Which was mostly bad for Adrien.

His father had tried getting close to him recently but when the akuma was purified he'd gotten worse, and he'd taken a sudden, suspicious interest in Adrien's ring.

Outside of home life though, everything was as it should be. School was back up and running and because of the Lucky Charm Marinette's injuries were gone. Adrien had felt so happy when she cleansed the city that he'd picked her up and spun her around. He wanted to kiss her but he didn't.

He wouldn't force himself on Mari like that.

Since then Tikki had recovered somewhat. She was still weak and shaky and when she flew she tended to fly in circles, and only the return of the other earring would heal her fully.

Adrien frowned out at the gray sky and his water-droplet-marred window as he held on to both ends of his undone tie loosely. That was their next huge mission. Find Hawkmoth and take back the Miraculous, and bring him down as well. Recently a note had appeared on Adrien's desk written in flowing handwriting and marked with a peacock, telling him the sender had a lead on Hawkmoth. That was a start. He'd tell Marinette about it when he got home.

His phone buzzed and he smirked a little when he read the contact. _Speak of the devil._

 _M - Have fun at the shoot. I have some things to talk about afterward but I know you're busy and so I won't bear you down with them right now. I have to go deliver some pastries so I'll see you in a few hours._

Adrien grinned, tapping out a reply and forgetting about the rain for a moment.

 _A - Okay, My Lady. Can't wait to see you! It would be a CAT-tastrophe if I didn't. ;3_

He didn't expect her to text back being that she was probably riding her bike on the way to someone's house, but lo and behold his phone vibrated a moment later.

 _M - Adrien if you still want me to go on that date with you youd better hold off the puns_

 _A - you wound me, Bugaboo_

 _M - please im trying to ride my bike here_

 _A - okay, okay, ill hold off X3_

He waited for the phone to buzz again and when it didn't he sighed a little, slipping it into his pocket. There was a naive hope in Adrien's mind that maybe Ladybug would swing in and feature herself in the line.

Then he reminded himself that Ladybug was Marinette and that Marinette didn't know where the shoot was and that Marinette was also doing chores. And that she could only be Ladybug for about seven minutes now with only one earring, and that it hurt her.

This was all more difficult than it could have been.

Adrien sighed for what seemed the fiftieth time today-maybe it was the gloom-and his mind went back to how this all could have been prevented if he'd just paid attention. It was actually kind of his fault and he was mad at himself for that.

Nathalie yelled something from downstairs and Adrien's shoulders drooped as he groaned and rolled his eyes. This routine was so infuriatingly mundane and he hated it.

"Coming!" he shouted back and grabbed Plagg before putting on a stiff appearance and heading downstairs quietly. This was going to be a long day, especially without Marinette.

Marinette's rain slick flapped around noisily as if in a plastic-y pep rally, drowned out only by the earbuds in her ears and the rain drops splattering against it. The bike's tires and the tires of the sealed cart it towed made a soft buzzing, hissing noise on the wet sidewalk as Marinette furiously pedalled to her next destination. She didn't want to catch a cold.

Construction blocked off her usual route and she groaned, taking the long way that wound through the city like a drunken worm. She sped past small shops she hadn't noticed before and quiet little cafés with bookstores that she would have loved to come to on a day like this. She didn't have any money on her though and even if she did her parents would get on her for being late.

Marinette yawned. She'd barely gotten any sleep last night, plagued by strange nightmares that kept her awake for hours after having them. None of them made any sense. All she knew was that in each one Chat-Adrien-had been killed by an akuma and that she couldn't do anything to stop it.

The girl shuddered and crossed the street behind a large building she guessed was one of the many mansions or boutiques in Paris; she couldn't tell from behind. There was a big, ornate circular window in the building's observatory-like room and a dragon stood facing the window as if communicating with whatever was inside.

Wait.

Marinette smothered a yelp and skidded to a stop before whipping into an alleyway and peeking out to get a better glimpse. _So THAT'S where that akuma went._ The butterfly image burned bright over her eyes in the gray gloom and she looked like she was in a trance. Hawkmoth's words were lost in the downpour but Marinette made out a little bit of it, having taken out her headphones. Hawkmoth appeared to be telling her off for only bringing him the one earring. Or maybe he was finally giving her another mission. Whatever the case, the dragon had been absent for a week and Marinette feared she'd come back.

But then Hawkmoth clearly shouted, "You've failed me enough already! I will never bring you back again and I will take the other Miraculous myself, you hear me?!"

The dragon nodded slowly and was quickly detransformed into Emeline, the girl from Marinette's class. The butterfly was frozen mid-air before an invisible fist crushed it and Emeline was left bedraggled in the grass.

She'd been akumatized for a month.

Ladybug had contacted her parents at one point before her earring got taken, telling them who the akuma was and that she'd get their daughter back as soon as possible.

Marinette ran over to the girl and helped her up. "Emeline, are you okay?"

Emeline groaned in reponse and held her head. "What…happened?"

"You got turned into a dragon for a month," Marinette answered. That was the simplest way to put it.

Emeline looked disappointed. "And I missed it? All of it?"

"Pretty much, yeah. Do you want me to take you home? I can help explain this to your parents."

"S-sure…" Emeline blinked, her eyes crossing for a moment. "Why are you back here anyway?"

"Uh, Ladybug said she saw you back here but was busy with something and saw me on the way-I was delivering pastries-and asked if I would bring you home."

Emeline blinked again. "Oh."

"Come on. I have some macarons you can bring to your parents after we sort this out."

It was near evening when Adrien stopped by the boulangerie, clothed in black spandex and wearing cat ears atop his head. He detransformed in the alley and sauntered in, waving to Marinette's parents.

"Hi, Tom! Hi, Sabine!"

The Dupain-Chengs waved back and a couple customers called out greetings, Adrien nodding toward them warmly. Tom called out to him from the doorway to the kitchen, covered in flour and smiling widely. "Evening, kid! Here to see Marinette?"

Those same customers ooo-ed quietly, and an elderly pair of women put their hands over their mouths and giggled. Adrien turned a little red; had there not been a crowd he would have been okay with it but now he had spectators who knew of or at least had suspicions of his new love interest.

Would he hear about this from his father? Probably.

Adrien stammered a little and Sabine walked over to smack Tom on the shoulder. "Tom!" She looked over her shoulder and grinned at Adrien. "She's right upstairs, honey," Sabine cooed endearingly. "She's violently mulling over something so try not to startle her. And don't come up with any plans to take over the world while you're up there!"

Adrien laughed, heading up the stairs. "I wouldn't dream of it, ma'am."

When he finally reached Marinette's trap door he could hear her pacing softly, muttering to herself and Tikki. He smiled. It was cute. But what could she possibly be fretting about?

He rapped lightly on the door with the back of his knuckles, earning a slightly startled and muffled, "Who is it?"

"Your knight in shining armor, Princess."

There was a snort. "If your armor is shiny it means you have never used it, and therefore you are not a competent warrior, so why should I let you in?"

"Because maybe I fight more than you think and also do a good job polishing my armor. Also because you love me, so."

She laughed and opened the door to pull him into her room. "I never admitted to that," Marinette giggled, her cheeks flushed.

Adrien smirked. "Ah, but you show it," he countered. "Besides, without you this knight of yours would probably be stuck in a tree somewhere."

Marinette smiled at him. "And don't you forget it."

Adrien laughed. "Oh, I definitely won't. Now, you mentioned earlier you had something to talk about-"

"Oh, yeah, yeah." Marinette fumbled around on her desk for her phone, which was buried under a mound of fabric and thread for whatever project she was working on now. It looked like a dress, but Adrien couldn't be too sure. She straightened and began to gesture vaguely with her hands as she spoke.

"Okay, so originally I was going to talk about how the akuma still hadn't shown up and how there hadn't been anything else challenging us since the dragon flew off, because it was getting kinda worrying," Marinette explained. "But then I was out delivering pastries and-"

"You ran into the dragon," Adrien cut in, "and you didn't call me? Mari, you-"

She held out her hands. "Yeah, I did, but she didn't know I was there. She kinda just sat there. And…I think I found Hawkmoth's hideout."

"Are you sure?"

"Almost. There were some questionable things about it, and Lila might have been akumatized again and made the hideout an illusion, but the dragon was definitely there. Hawkmoth took the akuma out of her and reverted her back to Emeline." Marinette handed him the phone to look at some pictures she took.

Adrien nodded absently, eyes flicking over the images. "And what of the akuma?" he asked after a moment.

"I think Hawkmoth killed it," Marinette shrugged. "It flew out of Emeline's necklace and crumbled mid-air."

"Mm. Well, I got a lead from an anonymous sender. They said they had some clues as to where Hawkmoth was and what powers he had. The only signature on the note was a peacock."

Marinette furrowed her brow, thinking for a moment. "The two could be connected," she muttered. "Did Mystery Peacock say anything about Hawkmoth's location?"

Adrien smirked a little at the nickname. "No, they just said they wanted to meet you and I as our hero selves at like midnight tonight to discuss his whereabouts."

"Well, I can't be there then," Marinette frowned.

"And how'd they know where to send the note?" Adrien fretted. If anyone had found out his identity…

"Peacock had to have had a messenger," Marinette reasoned. "There's no way anybody knows who you are. After that battle you detransformed in a very hidden alleyway. Maybe they gave the note to Fu."

Adrien nodded a little and shrugged. "Okay, well, when I meet them, do you have any other information I can bring them? Besides the fact that you can't transform safely."

Marinette tapped her chin in thought. "I saw the hideout along the back route of where I usually go because of roadwork," she hummed. "You know the road I sometimes take from Mylene's place to that small mansion with the family from California that has a cow and forty-seven chickens?" Adrien nodded. "Well, it was about halfway to that mansion where I saw the dragon and the hideout. Tell Peacock that."

"'Kay." Tikki landed lopsidedly on Adrien's shoulder and gestured at the phone screen.

"Marinette," she coughed, "you might wanna see this."

Marinette stood next to Adrien and squinted where her kwami was pointing. "I don't…"

"C-closer, Mari."

Marinette pouted a little. Indeed, there was a small blue spot atop one of the buildings within sight of the dragon. "That blue thing?" she asked. Tikki nodded. "I've never seen it before."

Plagg flew out. "Why don't you pull it up on the computer?"

Marinette shrugged and did so, zooming in closer. "It's really pixelated," she muttered, "but it looks kind of like a person…"

Adrien set his jaw and Marinette gave him a weary look. "What are you thinking, chaton?"

"I'm thinking…we found our Peacock."

Chat landed quietly on the wet, crumbling pavement of an old factory alleyway. Rusty cans and barrels disintegrated slowly against the ancient brick walls and Chat shivered.

He hated this part of town.

Marinette had made him promise to stay safe; "You don't know whether this could be a set-up or not," she'd warned him, pressing her lucky charm bracelet he usually kept in his pocket into his palm.

Chat Noir warmed a little at the thought of the gesture. Marinette cared for him, _loved_ him, and for now that was enough to keep him sneaking through that bad-news alley.

There was a light patter behind him and whipped around, brandishing his staff. A woman dressed in brightly colored spandex and feathers held up her hands, a dark iridescent blue and green cape fluttering behind her in the soft midnight breeze. Chat yawned at her.

"Tonight's a school night, ma'am, I hope you know that. I'm losing precious sleep for this little excursion. I'm a very busy guy."

She slowly cocked her head, the way a bird would. "Ah, but isn't finding Hawkmoth more important?"

"Probably," Chat shrugged, "but I've had a long day and I'd really just like to be in bed right now."

"Well, we'll make this hasty, then," she replied, looking down her beaked mask at him.

Chat had other things on his mind, like how her feathers hadn't made him sneeze yet. Maybe they were fake. "Yeah, sure, whatever."

The peacock looked around the alley. "Is Ladybug-"

"Not coming," Chat interrupted, yawning. "She kinda lost her other earring thanks to Hawkmoth and can't transform without it hurting her. I'm the messenger in this situation. I deliver news, collect news, then deliver it again on the other end of things. I'm a one-man Parisian Pony Express."

The woman smiled a little. "Well, let's get on with it, shall we? I assume you have news for me as well, other than Ladybug's absence."

Chat grinned tiredly. "Yup. What do you need to know?"

The meeting extended well into the wee hours of morning and Chat had nearly fallen asleep on the bird-woman at least three times, yawning until his eyes watered. Once he'd gathered everything he needed to know, he bid the woman a farewell and turned to leave.

Before he could, she grabbed his arm and whispered, "I have one more warning. When you find Hawkmoth, tell him the bird sent you."

"Ma'am, I'm pretty sure-"

"Just do it. And his miraculous is the locket on his chest. Encase Nooru and the butterflies and don't let him touch it when you get it. Don't be surprised if others like you and I show up, and for the love of everything holy, hold on."

Chat blinked. "What's that supposed to…" He trailed off. She'd already disappeared and he was too tired to linger. He could wait to mull on it till he was completely awake. For now, he needed to get to bed.

He groaned as he pole-vaulted home, exhaustion pulling at his legs and making him stumble. If Nathalie didn't kill him tomorrow, Marinette would. She'd been insisting he get more sleep and boy was she going to cream him. Oh well. Maybe she'd understand.

Chat Noir detransformed as he slipped through his window and immediately crashed on his bed, barely even looking at the clock before it was lights out for him.

It was three in the morning.


	2. Chapter 2

"That peacock is awfully suspicious."

Marinette lifted her eyes to meet Adrien's over the top of her coffee, quirking an eyebrow. "Come again?"

Adrien leaned back in his chair and put his hands in his sweatshirt pocket. "I said the peacock was suspicious," he repeated. A few customers gave him sideways glances and he pouted, proceeding to push his quiche around with his fork.

Marinette tried to resist giggling; he was terribly adorable when stewing over something like he was. And his recent trend of mussing up his hair a bit, so that he looked more like his alter ego, wasn't helping. She cleared her throat. "How so?"

Adrien sighed. "One, she kept me up really late last night-"

"Adrien, I told you you needed to get more sleep," Marinette interrupted, scolding the boy. He held up his hands in surrender.

"I know, I know, but listen," he insisted, "keeping a kid like me up till three in the morning is flat-out mean. That makes me wary." Marinette snickered.

"Sleeping Beauty's pretty worked up about that, isn't he?"

"You were the one scolding me just a second ago!"

Marinette giggled into her hand as Adrien huffed at the other side of the table. "I'm sorry, continue," she laughed.

Adrien frowned at her for a moment. "ANYWAY," he carried on with a harumph, "the main reason I'm suspicious of her is that she just…showed up. What if she's an akuma, like Lila was? Or what if she's really a Miraculous wielder but works with Hawkmoth?"

Marinette stirred her coffee in thought. "That's not all, is there?"

Adrien shook his head. "No." He'd resumed leaning on his forearms on the table, and now he rubbed his thumbs together distractedly. He looked up and met Marinette's eyes. "I'm pretty sure I've seen her as a civilian somewhere before."

Marinette opened her mouth to say something but then Adrien's phone rang. He sighed and picked up, excusing himself for a moment to talk somewhere quieter.

"Adrien."

"Hello Nathalie," Adrien greeted, trying not to groan. "Was there a photoshoot I didn't know about?"

Adrien knew full and well there wasn't, so what his father could have possibly wanted he had no idea.

"Your father has requested your presence for a fitting," Nathalie droned. "He is expecting you to attend the Summer Solstice Gala and there is a custom suit he needs you to wear."

Adrien pinched the bridge of his nose. "I thought father said I didn't have to go this year."

"Your father's colleagues are expecting your presence this year and he wants to make a good impression," Nathalie continued. "You have to be there. However, while he is allowing you to bring a 'date' of your choice-"

Adrien's eyes lit up for a moment.

"-he would prefer it if you took young Ms. Bourgeois."

"Of course," Adrien muttered under his breath. "Okay. What time does father need me for the fitting?"

"He considers you late already, Adrien. I would suggest leaving immediately."

"Right now?!" Adrien exclaimed, earning some looks from passers-by. He repeated, at a quieter tone, "Right now? But Nathalie, it's a _school_ day and I have important tests I can't make up!"

" _Now_ , Adrien. Your grades can wait."

Adrien sighed. "Yes, Nathalie. I'm at the Dupain-Cheng bakery for lunch. I'll be waiting outside."

"Your chauffeur will be there in five minutes."

There was a click as Nathalie hung up and Adrien shoved his phone into his pocket in a huff. He slid inside the bakery and Marinette smiled at him from taking a sip of coffee.

"Who was it?" she asked cheerily.

"Nathalie." Marinette's face fell and she looked like her coffee had suddenly turned bitter.

"Ew. What'd she say?"

Adrien sighed again. "I have to leave in five minutes for a fitting," he explained, "and my father has no regard for the fact we have a physics test today."

Marinette frowned. "I'll grab you a sheet today then and you can work on it at home," she decided. "If Ms. Mendeleiv has a problem with it then sucks for her."

Adrien laughed a little. "Thanks, Mari."

She beamed at him, then stood up and grabbed her bag. "I'll wait with you. I have to walk back anyway."

As they waited, Marinette made conversation with him. "So what's the fitting for anyway?"

"Father's having a custom suit made for me," Adrien shrugged. "The Summer Solstice Gala is coming up in a month and I didn't have to go this year until my father's co-workers decided they wanted to see me there. I hate these rich-people parties because nobody has any emotion and they just kind of…stare at you when you walk by."

Marinette laughed. "Fun."

"The only upside this year is that I get to choose who to take with me as opposed to having Chloé drag me around the place," Adrien continued, looking sideways at Marinette. Her cheeks were tinged pink as she looked at him.

"Are you implying that-"

Adrien bowed with a flair. "Would you like to attend the gala with me, My Lady?"

Marinette giggled and shoved him lightly. "Who do you take me for, minou? Of course I do!"

Adrien laughed and righted himself. "It's a date, then." Marinette looked flustered again.

"Well, I mean, if you want it to be," she stammered. "Oh! Are you, uh, still planning on taking me to that café next week? Because I know you're really busy and I don't want to interfere…w-we can reschedule if-"

Adrien laughed again, his cheeks a bit warm at the mention of it. "Wouldn't miss it for the world."

Marinette turned an even brighter shade of red and muttered something about how dumb he was before staring at her shoes. Adrien's chauffeur pulled up and he sighed. "Tell the teacher I'm out for a fitting and probably won't be back," he requested of Marinette. Grinning mischievously, he kissed her hand and strode to the car as she stammered after him.

"You dumb cat!"

"Love you too, Princess!"

Marinette's face burned and she buried it in her hands. "Oh my god."

The car drove off and Adrien waved through the window. Marinette waved back, still visibly flustered, before discreetly flipping him the bird and running off to catch up with Alya and Nino. Adrien smiled after her and leaned back in his seat.

He really did mean it when he said he loved her too.

And he knew Marinette's rude hand gestures were affectionate. Two years of working with Ladybug made him quite sure of that. Marinette could call him dumb and it wouldn't hurt because she'd be blushing up a storm at the same time. Ladybug could call him an idiot and he'd just purr because she'd be scratching him in that spot behind his cat ears that he couldn't quite reach.

Plagg made a disgusted noise from Adrien's shirt. "You're thinking about her again, aren't you?"

Adrien gave him a fake gasp. "Whoa, how could you tell?" he countered sarcastically.

Plagg squinted at him. "I don't know, maybe you were just kind of sitting there and smiling for no reason?" he suggested with an indignant sniff. "Also your cheeks are bright red."

Adrien rolled his eyes. "Whatever. I've said it before and I'll say it again: you don't know anything about love."

"We'll see about that, kid."

The car pulled up in front _de Gabriel_ , the boutique Adrien's father ran. Adrien walked alongside Gorilla and stared at the huge lettered sign, vaguely acknowledging Nathalie as she flitted about him and handed him schedules. He hated that logo, hated the butterfly-like symbol that accompanied it. Hated the smell of cleaning solutions and shape-holding chemicals and leather and rubber. It was cold and its snobbish atmosphere made him want to run all the way back to the boulangerie where it smelled of cookies and bread and _Marinette_.

He liked it much better there.

As a result Adrien was on a hair trigger, tensed and ready to run at any moment even though he knew he couldn't. And when Gabriel himself entered the room and the temperature dropped even further and the air pressure seemed to increase, building up around and inside Adrien's ears and making them pop, Adrien jumped. He started because he was on such an unstable fuse that the mere presence of the man who was becoming more of a warden than a father made his sense of self-preservation kick in and take over.

Adrien didn't fear his father, he told himself that over and over. But the need to be a normal kid who could even have friends over without worry of being shut inside overrode his senses and made his desperate want to _live_ feel like fear.

And this, he thought, this store for people with more money than others where he regularly got told to stand still while someone held a measuring tape to his body, this wasn't living. He was sixteen and still barely got to dress himself. He was a doll.

"Nathalie, Adrien," Gabriel greeted. He bore no emotion and when he looked at his son Adrien felt numb. Gabriel squinted at the boy, walking a little closer and giving him a once-over. "Mm, you've been spending quite a lot of time at the Dupain-Cheng bakery the past few months," he observed coolly. "I do hope they're not feeding you too much, Adrien. I wouldn't want you to be overweight for our next photoshoot."

Adrien tried to ignore how hungry he was. "What's wrong with photoshop, father?" he countered, his voice just as sure and level. "Is our graphic design team incapable of erasing a few inches of waist?"

Gabriel frowned, looking about as taken aback as he could. "Was that _attitude_ , Adrien?"

"Of course not, father. I'm above that."

"You're not, and you know it." Gabriel looked to Nathalie. "Come. You're already late."

In the back room Gabriel examined the choice materials while a couple employees went about their business briskly, pulling out pins and measuring tapes and speaking with the designer about the selected fabrics. Adrien pulled off his sweatshirt and threw it on a chair while Nathalie took notes.

Gabriel looked at his son. "Your tee-shirt too, Adrien," he ordered. "I want this as form-fitting as possible."

Adrien huffed and wiggled out of his tee, muttering, "You never ask me what _I_ want." The plastic measuring tape was cold against his skin and goosebumps prickled along his arms and across his stomach and he had to fight the urge to curl inward.

Gabriel held a few fabrics to Adrien's bare chest for a moment, while the boy's measurements were being taken, for a frame of reference before deciding on one and selecting the appropriate thread.

"Adrien, who is this Dupain-Cheng girl to you?"

Adrien started. He knew this would happen and yet…

"Why, father?" he inquired. "Is she of some concern to you?"

His father's hesitation confirmed his suspicions and he tried not to sneer. "You seem to have taken a great liking to her, Adrien. Your frequenting of the bakery is not solely for sweets, I presume?"

"You presume correctly," Adrien affirmed. "She's a great person to be around and she's amazing. She was the one who won your hat contest last year."

Gabriel raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"

"Yes, and if you have anything to say against my friendship with her I suggest you say it now."

Gabriel gave Adrien that same disapproving frown again. "For now I do not," he sighed. "You're lucky. I assume she's the one you'd like to take with you to the Gala?"

Adrien swallowed down the fluttering in his stomach at the thought of it. "Y-yes father."

"Your suit is made to match Chloé's. Your little seamstress will have to make her own dress to match your outfit, or not come at all."

Fire lit up in Adrien's chest. "Marinette is more than capable of doing that!"

"Then she should have no problem."

"That still doesn't change how unfair it is to her! You've given her a _month_ and she has other things to do!"

"Then it will be the perfect challenge. She needs to prove herself to me."

"Why?" Adrien demanded. "Tell me why."

The room went silent. The tailors around Adrien backed up slightly and everyone stopped what they were doing in favor of the crackling, tense atmosphere between Gabriel and his son.

Adrien turned to face his father. "Tell me why you think a girl as capable as her needs to prove herself to you when in my opinion she already has. Tell me why any girl I take to parties besides Chloé has to be a seamstress of professional merit. And tell me why, father, you choose to overwork Marinette simply for her to go anywhere with me."

Gabriel's expression remained constant apart from the slight twitch of the lips that might have been a smile, one of satisfaction like he had won somehow. His eyes shifted to the employees grouped at the back.

"Get back to work," he ordered before looking directly into his son's eyes. "I've heard what I needed to hear."

Adrien watched his father leave with a slight gape, following him a few steps. "You were _testing_ me!" he accused.

"Perhaps," his father responded. "Now hold still, Adrien. You'll mess up the measurements."

Chat landed on the balcony and rapped on Marinette's window. Within a few minutes she opened it and he jumped in, stretching.

"You were there awfully long," Marinette observed.

"Father wouldn't let me leave until I'd rehearsed for the party," Chat groaned, now detransformed and sitting down heavily on the floor. "Why I need to rehearse for that, I don't know."

Marinette handed him a blank test from earlier in the day. "Do you have to meet with the Peacock tonight?"

Adrien sighed. "I probably should," he mumbled, leaning into Marinette's hand as she ran her fingers through his hair and scratched him behind the ears. "But I don't want to go…not yet."

"Then don't. You look like you've had a long day."

"Mmmmbut Mariiiiii…" Adrien protested, closing his eyes and rubbing his head against her hand. "What about…mm…Hawkmoth…?"

Marinette smiled. He'd started to purr and it made his voice sound funny when he talked.

"Adrien, you're tired and need some rest," she told him. "Tell your Peacock she can wait."

"But...this is…mmmimportant…it would mmmmake me…feel better, at least…" He'd begun kneading the carpet, his purring growing louder than any normal human could attempt.

Marinette sighed heavily. "Fine. But at least stay here awhile," she ordered. "Tell me about your day."

He let out a small mewl of protest but gave in and wiggled his top half into Marinette's lap so she could pet him easier. "Mm…it was fine until I had to get fitted," he grumbled. "Father thinks you need to make your dress to match my suit for the gala. He knows you don't have time enough for that and what with trying to get the Miraculous back…"

"I can manage," Marinette shrugged. "Just send me a picture of it when you can and I'll see what I can do."

"But-"

"It's okay, Adrien."

Adrien rolled up and out of her lap so that he was facing her, propped up on his elbows. "No it's not, Marinette," he assured her. He looked at the ground. "It's not okay. Nothing he ever does is okay. This is unfair to you and…" He trailed off as Marinette placed a hand on his cheek and he melted into it, resuming his purring.

"Fine, it isn't okay," Marinette relented, "but I'll be alright. Don't worry." She rubbed her thumb on his cheek and his eyes opened a crack.

"That's not all of it…I can't eat much more than a croissant every time I come here or else he'll notice that I weigh more than I should and he won't _let_ me come here anymore," Adrien pouted. "I can still sneak out as Chat but I won't be able to eat as him either."

Marinette's thumb stopped moving. "I knew model diets were bad but…" She shook her head. "You're so thin, you don't eat _enough_. This isn't fair to you."

A sudden wave of exhaustion washed over Adrien and he nodded tiredly, leaning into Marinette's hand. "I'm so hungry…"

"I don't care about what your dad says, I'm getting you something much more filling than a croissant," Marinette decided. "Wait here."

Within a few minutes she was back with a sandwich, one of sizeable portions that Adrien never got the luxury of having. He tore into it hungrily and Marinette watched watched him with a hint of sadness in her eyes. "How long has he been like this?" she asked.

"About three or four years," Adrien replied with a mouthful of food. "I always ate enough before my mom left."

Marinette ruffled his hair affectionately. "Oh, Adrien…"

There was a period of time where the two just sat in silence before Marinette looked at the clock. "It's midnight, Adrien. If you want to meet with Peacock you'd better leave now."

He grumbled and Plagg made a similar complaint, not wanting to leave Tikki. The little black cat god had become extremely protective of his counterpart since the earring got taken and now he mewled in protest, curled up around her.

Adrien had been sleeping in Marinette's lap and now he stretched, mumbling something about not wanting to leave. Marinette sighed. "You said it yourself, kitty," she reminded him, "you need to do this."

Adrien opened one eye halfway. "You were the one telling me not to earlier."

"Yeah, and I changed my mind because I need my earring back and she's our biggest chance at doing that."

The boy moaned. "But _Princess_ …"

"Adrien if you set your mind to something you'd better follow through with it. Now hurry!"

He stood, albeit a tad wobbly, and groggily called on Plagg to transform him. In his place stood Chat Noir, still tired but with more energy than he'd had before.

Marinette scratched his ears and rubbed her thumbs on his cheek, making him purr again. "Wake up, kitty," she whispered. "It's no good having a dead-to-the-world superhero in town."

He smiled lightly. "I'm only dead to the world because of you, My Lady."

Marinette blushed. "Stop it, I have to go to bed." She let go of his face and held his hand in both of hers, pressing it to his chest. "Please stay out of trouble. I don't need you going and getting beaten up or held hostage tonight."

The cat laughed a little. "No promises, Bugaboo," he yawned, "but I'll try my best."

"You'd better," Marinette snorted. "Now get going and make it _fast_ ; you need to sleep."

Chat hopped into the skylight and gave Marinette a salute. "As you wish, My Lady." And then he was gone. Marinette watched him till his suit blended into the night and the neon shine of his eyes were but specks bouncing along the rooftops. A gust of wind whispered through her hair and left a wet promise of rain and she shivered.

It was odd and it didn't feel right. Rain wasn't supposed to come this often at this time of year. The clouds weren't supposed to block out the sun as much as they had and the smell of rain on the wind was bittersweet, ensuring sinisterly that a storm was brewing.

Marinette closed the skylight and huddled on her bed. Tikki floated lopsidedly up to the girl and settled with a drunken wobble on her knee. "I feel it too, Marinette." The god trembled a little. "Something big is going to happen and I don't know what but I feel that it'll mark the end of our current Hawkmoth's power," she squeaked before shaking her head. "Or…something else might happen sooner. It's hard to say. The wind has never been good at delivering clear messages."

Marinette flopped backwards, staring at the moon. "I would say that it was just an odd storm," she sighed, "but you're a wise, ancient god and I'm a teenager. I'm going to trust you on this and see what I can do to prepare."

"Right now, nothing," Tikki supplied gloomily. "I wish I knew what to do but I don't because I'm not one hundred percent sure anything is going to happen at all. For now just set to work finding leads to Hawkmoth and making your dress, and we'll figure out the details later. Okay?"

Marinette watched a cloud obscure the moon, her brow creased with worry. "Okay."


End file.
